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Gloom and doom in Louisiana: Trump warns of deep ‘depression’ if he loses in 2020

President tries to swing governor’s race toward Republican Eddie Rispone

President Donald Trump, here at a rally in Dallas last month, warned supporters of a “depression the likes of which you’ve never seen before” if he loses reelection next year. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images file photo)
President Donald Trump, here at a rally in Dallas last month, warned supporters of a “depression the likes of which you’ve never seen before” if he loses reelection next year. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images file photo)

Using his typical brash rhetoric, President Donald Trump on Wednesday night warned a Louisiana rally crowd to expect economic gloom and doom if he is defeated next November.

“You will have a depression the likes of which you’ve never seen before,” he said.

Trump also leveled fresh criticism at House Democrats over their impeachment inquiry, lobbing allegations of shenanigans at House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, whom he called “Shifty Schiff” and “a total crook.”

The president also disparaged the intelligence community whistleblower whose formal complaint prompted House Democrats’ investigation. He mocked that individual by saying the person has “disappeared” because the White House released a summary of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s new president, even though the document aligns with the whistleblower’s complaint.

Accusing Democrats of “lies,” he called his supporters and other Republicans an “angry majority,” vowing they will “take back the House” next November.

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[Republicans push for whistleblower’s identity, but not naming names — yet]

Trump stepped onstage inside the Monroe Civic Center to weigh in on another governor’s race, trying again to help a Republican across the finish line.

Polls have shown a close race between Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards and Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, who will meet in a Nov. 16 runoff. 

The president dubbed Edwards a “radical liberal Democrat,” consistent with his message about other Democratic candidate he’s campaigned against.

He also accused Democrats of “trying to rip our nation apart.”

“They’re after your Second Amendment,” he said to boos. “And, with the Republicans, no one is going to [get] your Second Amendment.”

He said the Edwards-Rispone race is a chance for voters to send a message to the “radical left” as the 2020 election cycle heats up. Perhaps trying to lower expectations, Trump told the crowd that “your state isn’t that Republican,” even though GOP presidential nominees have won the last five consecutive elections there and Republicans dominate the Louisiana congressional delegation. 

An Edgewater Research/My People Vote survey conducted Oct. 30 found Edwards up 4 points, but a We Ask America poll conducted 13 days earlier had shown the candidates tied.

Trump said he expects to return to Louisiana next Thursday and will attend the LSU-Alabama NCAA football game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in three days. That game will pit the second- and third-ranked teams in a high-profile Southeastern Conference clash that has major playoff implications.

 

Trump has so far seen mixed results in this year’s round of governor’s races after headlining rallies for GOP candidates who both lost and won high-profile contests.

 

In Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear has declared victory over GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, who has asked for a recanvass of the votes from Tuesday’s election, citing “significant irregularities.” Trump held an election-eve rally for Bevin in Lexington.

But in Mississippi, Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves was elected governor Tuesday night, four days after the president rallied the GOP faithful for him in Tupelo.

Wednesday evening marked Trump’s second foray into Louisiana’s gubernatorial fight. On Oct. 11, before the state’s jungle primary, he held a raucous rally in Lake Charles for Republicans trying to unseat Edwards.

Political observers say Tuesday’s results in places like Kentucky, Pennsylvania (where Democrats scored significant wins in suburban local elections) and Virginia (where Democrats took over the state legislature) show Trump’s coattails only extend to rural areas. Some GOP operatives acknowledge he is hemorrhaging support with educated and older white voters in the suburbs. But his surrogates disagree.

His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., for instance, told Fox Business of Tuesday’s results: “I don’t think that has anything to do with 2020.”

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